


Attraction

by nikoxnii



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 13:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12583152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikoxnii/pseuds/nikoxnii
Summary: When Eli has to play cupid for a bunch of idiots in love.





	Attraction

Eli walked down the hall, sighing as she thought about all the work that needed to be finished in the next few days. She had only finished half of what was asked to be done by tomorrow and the thought of staying back after their Muse practice was already tiring in itself. She was lucky to have Nozomi beside her, but with just the two of them, it was still going to be one long night.

Opening the door to the clubroom, she was immediately greeted with a tight hug from Rin who had jumped on her the minute she walked in. Eli let out a squeal of surprise as she looked at the younger girl.

“Eli-chan! Eli-chan! Please don’t do it, nya!”

“What?”

“I know it looks tempting, nya, but you just can’t!”

“Rin, what are you – ”

“Don’t do it, Eli-chan! We need you, nya! We can’t lose you!”

“Rin, stop butchering her, she has no idea what you’re talking about,” Maki cut in without throwing a glance their way, casually twirling a stand of her hair with her usual apathetic expression.

Rin’s agitated look quickly turned into an apologetic one, chuckling weakly at her mistake as she let go of the taller girl. “Sorry, Eli-chan.”

“What’s going on?” the blonde asked, looking at each of the Muse members’ faces.

They all looked at each other without saying a word, a look of concern on each of their faces. Eli had started to become more curious by the second as Umi and Hanayo started to fidget in their seats from the tense atmosphere.

Nico spoke up first. “As the president – ”

“Oh, here we go.”

The raven-haired shot a look at Maki who didn’t react to it, mostly because she was used to it by now. It was sometimes a wonder how they worked so well together. Eli sighed as Nico glared at the redhead, forgetting that she was about to inform her fellow third-year of what was happening.

“On behalf of the president,” Nozomi started upon realizing that the smaller girl wasn’t going to continue any time soon, “the reason we’re so edgy is because of what we found.”

“Found? What did you find?” Eli questioned, still standing by the entrance.

“Well, that’s the thing,” Honoka said, giving her senior a wry smile. “We don’t really know what it is.”

The third-year raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”

“It was on the table when we came in,” Kotori stated. “It was addressed to you, but with no other name.”

“So where is it?” the blonde asked, looking at the empty table.

Hanayo nervously picked it up from the ground, placing it in the middle of the table for the older girl to see. “A letter also came with it,” the first-year informed her. “But we didn’t want to open it.”

“Well, _most_ of us didn’t want to open it,” Umi said, shooting Honoka a glare; the ginger-haired flinched with a weak chuckle, trying to scoot away from her childhood friend.

The object was a tiny vile filled with sparkling blue liquid. The lightness of the color made it seem so mesmerizing and unreal that Eli couldn’t take her eyes off of it. The contents slowly swirled around inside from the motion of Hanayo putting it down. It was almost like something Eli saw in those fairy tails she watched when she was younger.

“This is for me?” she asked, picking up the small object from the countertop; it was light and smaller than her hands.

“Yeah; at least that’s what it said,” Nico replied, tossing the letter far enough to reach her classmate on the opposite end.

Eli stared at her name that was neatly written in the middle before picking it up to inspect it, everyone watching her in curiosity. Feeling the pressure they were placing on her, the blonde opened it, taking out a folded piece of paper inside. Expecting some sort of well-written explanation for the random object, she jumped when she found only a few words scribbled on the letter.

“What does it say, nya?” Rin asked when Eli’s face contorted into a puzzled look.

“It says ‘enjoy the love potion’,” she replied, turning the paper around to show the others the big letters that had been written.

“Enjoy the what now?!” Nico jumped from her seat in disbelief.

“Why would someone give you a love potion?” Honoka asked.

“For obvious reasons, Honoka,” the redhead replied, her arms crossed as if she was disinterested in the situation.

“I think Maki-chan needs it more than you do,” Nico teased, smirking when the younger girl’s face turned red from both irritation and embarrassment.

“I do not!” the first-year retaliated. “I’ll have you know I was just confessed to today.”

The raven-haired girl’s expression turned into shock. “What? By who?”

“Why would you like to know?”

“Oh, for obvious reasons,” Nozomi repeated, smiling smugly at the smaller girl who hissed at her.

“Can we get back to the topic at hand?” Eli sighed, sitting in her usual seat. “Why would someone play a joke like this?”

“You don’t think it’s real?” Hanayo asked.

“No,” the third-year answered impassively. “Things like love potions only happen in made up stories for parents to read to their children before bedtime. This has to be a prank.”

Umi hummed in agreement. “That’s what I said; it’s only logical that this is a trick someone is playing on us,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Well, we didn’t listen to you because Umi-chan is such a killjoy,” the ginger-haired stated, puffing her cheeks out in disappointment. 

“Honoka, do I have to remind you what a slap in the face feels like?” the blue-haired girl replied, her cold eyes sending daggers towards her childhood friend.

“N – no thanks.”

“Why don’t we just try it?” Kotori suggested. “We can see if this really is a love potion or not before practice.”

“Kotori-chan has a good point,” Nozomi agreed. “Why don’t you take a sip of it, Elichi?”

Eli looked at the blue liquid again before asking, “Is it safe though? What if this thing is poisonous?”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” the smaller third-year stepped in. “No one would be insane enough to try and kill you.”

The blonde shook the vile, making the contents inside whirl around. She popped the top open as all eyes were on her; she took a small whiff of the liquid, smelling something fruity, but unable to put her finger on it. Eli took once last glance at everyone’s anxious faces before bringing the vile to her lips, quickly pouring the blue liquid into her mouth and down her throat. It didn’t taste like anything; it was plainer than water.

The room stayed silent for a while, all nine of them waiting for something to happen. It was nerve wrecking, mostly because Eli slightly believed that it may have been a real love potion and if she actually started to love someone, she wouldn’t know how to break it.

“Do you…feel different?” Honoka asked both in concern and interest.

“Not really,” Eli replied, looking around the room, half hoping she wasn’t about to fall in love with one of them.

Nico groaned in dissatisfaction. “And here I thought something amazing was going to happen today,” she admitted. “This blows.”

“Well now that’s settled,” Umi said, standing up from her seat. “I think it’s time to practice. We’ve wasted enough time with this situation.”

Honoka, Rin, and Nico sighed as all of them followed the second-year out the door, Eli and Nozomi being the last to leave the clubroom.

“You sure you’re not falling for someone, Elichi?” the purple-haired teased, winking at the taller girl as Eli’s cheeks turned a slight pink, turning away from her best friend.

“I’m not,” the blonde responded. “And even if I was, you’ll need to somehow break the power of whatever that blue thing was.”

Nozomi giggled at the statement, but something was off in her laugh that Eli turned to look at the purple-haired. “Of course, Elichika; anything for you.” She quickly walked out the door to catch up to the others, as the taller girl looked back at the empty vile that sat on the table before making her way towards the rooftop.

She really hoped that this was a prank.

* * *

The day started out just like any other: Eli woke up early and got ready for school, had breakfast with Alisa before they both walked out the door, separating when the younger Ayase met up with Yukiho halfway, and the blonde walked the rest of the way to school by herself.

But something was different and it was starting to make the third-year feel uncomfortable. Everyone – and she meant _everyone_ – kept staring at her, whispering to each other and giggling when she looked their way. At first, she thought it was all in her head, but the more she looked around to the people passing by, she was sure that they were all focused on her.

She was used to being stopped every once in a while for a picture and a autograph by fans, but now it was starting to get ridiculous. The blonde tried her best not to mind them, but with every single person she passed, it was becoming harder to not pay them any attention.

“What’s wrong, Elichi?”

The familiar voice made Eli jump, silently thanking Nozomi for finding her. The purple-haired looked at her in concern, her hands behind her back, waiting for her best friend to say something.

“Nozomi, is it just me, or is everyone looking at me?” Eli whispered, trying to keep her eyes on the fortune-teller as she felt the stares of the other students on her. It was starting to become really unsettling.

The older girl glanced around the courtyard as Eli tried her best not to look passed her. “That is rather odd,” Nozomi commented, taking notice of the girls gawking at the tall blonde. “But I’m sure it’s nothing, Elichi. Maybe you just got some new fans.”

The blonde chuckled weakly. “I hope so.”

“C’mon, let’s get going to class,” Nozomi said, turning to walk towards the entrance. “Nicocchi is already there waiting for us.”

Eli agreed, taking one last glance and immediately regretting it when all of them were still looking at her. She took one deep breath before half jogging to catch up to Nozomi in fear that something bad might happen if she was left alone.

* * *

“Please accept this letter, Eli-chan!”

Eli stared at the pink letter in the girl’s hands; she was used to these kinds of things ever since she joined Muse. She always had the right words to say to turn them down without hurting their feelings and it was always nice to know that others admired her.

But this time, Eli stood in shock, not knowing if she should take the love letter. She was unable to form a coherent sentence, her mouth hanging open in utter surprise, as the girl looked at her with pleading eyes. She wouldn’t have been so appalled if the girl confessing to her wasn’t Hanayo.

“Hanayo, what are you doing?” Eli nervously asked, glancing at the other girls who were watching the scene with a look of envy on their faces.

“Please, Eli-chan,” Hanayo insisted, taking a step closer to the older girl and pushing the letter towards her. “Please accept this letter. I want you to have it.”

“Hanayo, why are you – ”

The younger girl took another step towards her, Eli trying her best not to take a step back to hurt her friend’s feelings, but also attempting to keep some space in between them. “Eli-chan…ple – please…”

“Ahhhhh!”

Everyone turned to look to where the scream came from and it came to no surprise to Eli that Rin was standing at the other end of the hallway, pointing angrily at Hanayo. She started to run down the hall as Eli stared in confusion at Rin’s unusual furious expression.

“Kayochin, nya! What are you doing?” her childhood friend inquired as soon as she made it to them.

“That’s what I was – ”

“Eli-chan is mine, nya!”

“Excuse me?”

Rin and Hanayo ignored her as they both glared at each other; never in her life did Eli think these two would ever get in a fight, much less give off a bitter vibe. The sight was scary just because of how strange it was.

“I told you I was confessing to Eli-chan today, nya!” Rin argued, pointing to her chest.

“Well, you didn’t say dibs!” the brown-haired retaliated.

“I _did_ say dibs, nya!”

“No you didn’t!”

“Dibs! Dibs! Dibs! Nya!”

This argument was starting to get really weird. Eli didn’t know if it was cute or creepy.

“Uh, you guys,” Eli cut in. “Can we talk about this later?”

“Eli-chan! Who do you like better, nya?” Rin suddenly asked as both her and Hanayo turned their attention to the third-year.

The blonde jumped at the question. “What? I – I like both of you,” she replied, hoping that that was the right answer.

“No, there could only be one!” Hanayo said. All Eli could ask herself was where did Hanayo’s sweet and soft voice go?

Sweat started to break on Eli’s forehead as Rin and Hanayo started to move towards her in eagerness for an answer. She trembled in fear, stuttering random sounds as she tried to form words, but nothing came out before she decided the best thing to do was to run away.

The two first-years called after her only to end up arguing again about who was able to confess to her.

Things were starting to get bizarre and Eli needed to know why.

* * *

“I’m telling you, Nozomi! They were arguing! Like full on shouting; I almost mistook them for Nico and Maki!”

“Well those two do fight a lot,” the purple-haired commented. “Maybe we need to fix that.”

“That’s not the point, Nozomi,” Eli stated, slamming her hands on the table, a little upset that that was the only thing she took from it. “Just what is going on?”

Nozomi sat in thought, her pointer finger tapping her chin as she examined her tarot cards that were spread out across the desk. Eli waited, knowing that when the older girl looked to her cards for an answer, it had to be good.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong,” Nozomi stated, a little confused.

“What do you mean? There’s a lot of things wrong,” the taller girl exasperated, looking down at the cards as if she knew how to read them. After a minute, she slumped into her chair, exhaling in fatigue. “How could there be nothing wrong?”

“If what you say is true, then you just have to avoid any type of intimacy that will get them bickering,” the fortune-teller advised, piling her cards in a neat stack. “It shouldn’t be that hard.”

“I guess you’re right,” Eli replied. “It’s only Rin and Hanayo; they won’t be a big problem; I’m sure they’ve already made up.”

The Student Council door slammed open, both Eli and Nozomi jumping at the loud bang as they stared at the figure standing at the doorway. The blonde breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was only Nico and not some crazed fan – emphasis on the crazed.

“Nico, what are you doing here?” the blonde asked. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for practice?”

The raven-haired didn’t reply as she stared intensely at Eli with her hands on her hips. She strode towards her, stomping her feet with each step as if to emphasize that she was present in the room. The two other third-years watched silently as the smaller girl stopped on the opposite side of where the taller girl sat, leaning down to be at eye level with her.

Eli’s face flushed at the close proximity, trying to back away as much as possible without offending her friend. “What’s wrong, Nico?”

“Is it true that you said you liked both Rin _and_ Hanayo?” she asked, her crimson eyes locked on to blue ones.

“Well, yeah, but you know…as friends,” Eli clarified, trying not to make her voice shake.

The smaller girl stared at her for a few more seconds as if she was inspecting her until she stood straight back up, a look of delight adorning her face. “That means I still a chance.”

“A chance to what?” Eli questioned.

Nico pulled out a little box from her blazer’s pocket, stretching her arm out to hand it to the taller girl, her face turned away to hide the blush forming on her cheeks. Realizing what was going on, Eli’s eyes widened as Nozomi simply snickered in the corner.

“Ni – Nico…you don’t have to.” If this was going to happen again, she needed to stop it before the raven-haired could say anything. The encounter with Rin and Hanayo was already enough for one day; she didn’t need Nico confessing her so called “love” for her.

“Eli-chan…”

_Eli-chan?! What the hell?_

“Please accept this as a sign of my undying love for you,” Nico finished. Leave it to the Super Idol to come up with a sappy confession meant for a low budget romantic movie.

“Nico, you don’t have to – like _really_ ,” Eli replied with a wry smile. “You should save that for someone else.”

“But…it’s meant for Eli-chan,” the smaller girl said solemnly.

“Please stop calling me Eli-chan.”

“Nico-chan! How could you?!”

The three girls looked to the sound of another voice, Honoka standing by the entrance, her teeth clenched tightly as her usual cheery attitude was nowhere to be seen.

“Get out of here, Honoka,” Nico snapped. “I told you I was asking her.”

“Asking her if the rumors were true, not if she’ll accept your stupid gift,” the second-year reminded, towering over the smaller girl.

Nico gasped. “My gift is not stupid! If anything, your gift is stupid. Who gives bread to someone they’re confessing to?”

Now Honoka gasped. “I made it on my own which makes it special,” she stated, clutching the brown bag close to her chest in protection.

“You’re trying to get their attention, not kill them,” Nico mocked.

Eli looked at Nozomi who was still sitting in the same spot, watching the odd interaction between the third-year and the second-year. Without saying anything, the blonde gestured to the two bickering students as if to demonstrate her earlier point. The fortune-teller shrugged her shoulders as Eli pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Why are you two arguing so loudly? I can hear you from outside.”

A certain redhead stood at the entrance, her arms crossed as the four girls stared at her: Eli and Nozomi in curiosity and Honoka and Nico in annoyance.

“What do you want?” the raven-haired spat, glaring at the first-year.

“I want you to shut up,” Maki replied coldly, making her way towards them to sit herself down next to the blonde, stunning all of them at her random action.

As Eli opened her mouth to say something, the first-year scooted her chair closer, wrapping her arms around the older girl’s own and leaning into her as their legs pressed against each other. The blonde’s face burned red as she stared at the girl who was squeezing her harder, trying not to collapse from a heart attack.

Honoka and Nico’s eyes widened before they scrunched up in outrage. “What do you think you’re doing?!” the smaller girl interrogated.

“Isn’t that pretty obvious?” Maki replied, her purple eyes showing no sign of shame, holding onto the very flustered third-year as her leg started to rub Eli’s seductively. The Student Council President was sure she would have fallen off her chair by now if it weren’t for the redhead.

“Maki-chan! That’s a foul!” the second-year shouted, crossing her arms into a shape of an X.

“Sorry to inform you, but the rules of love are meant to be broken,” Maki stated as she smirked at the very outraged pair.

“Don’t go using lyrics from our song to prove your point!” Nico commanded, stomping her foot.

Maki smirked. “I’m going to try my hardest…”

“Maki-chan, I swear to god, if you continue – ”

“…never…”

“Don’t do it.”

“…never…”

“Maki-chan, I’m warning you right now – ”

“…never…”

“I dare you to finish that sentence. I dare you, Maki-chan.”

Nico and Maki stared at each other in silence as the three other girls watched intensely. The third-year narrowed her eyes at the younger girl as the first-year kept her sly smile, slightly giggling at the raven-haired’s annoyed expression.

“…give up.”

“Oh my god! Fight me! Let’s go, let’s do this!” Nico put up her fists, standing awkwardly in what was supposed to be her fighting stance. Maki shot out of her seat, slamming her hands on the table and leaning forward to be nose-to-nose with Nico.

“You want to fight, Nico-chan? You can’t even lay a finger on me,” the redhead mocked.

“You’re just scared that I can beat you; you’re weaker than Honoka,” Nico scoffed back, standing on her toes to be the first-year’s height.

“Hey!” the second-year stepped in offense. “Try me, Nico-chan! Umi-chan showed me the ways of a ninja.”

The three girls ended up in an arguing match as Eli sneakily, but hastily snuck out of the Student Council room, walking faster when she heard Nico point out that the blonde had disappeared from her chair. She took a right turn, looking back to make sure that none of them saw her, only to bump into someone going the other way.

“I’m so sorry,” the third-year apologized, looking up to find Kotori who was holding a box in her hands. “Oh, Kotori, where are you headed?”

The ash-haired girl smiled back. “I was actually heading to the Student Council room,” she replied.

“If you were looking for Honoka, she’s actually still in there,” Eli informed her. “But you may want to wait for a little while longer. She’s kind of…busy.”

“Oh! Actually, I was looking for you,” the second-year admitted, swaying from side-to-side. The way she kept smiling at Eli made the blonde feel a little uneasy despite the fact that Kotori always had a smile on her face. But with how things were going, the blonde was more cautious than ever.

“Lo – looking for me?” she stuttered, chuckling nervously and slowly backing away from the younger girl. “I’m sure you want nothing from me.”

Kotori pouted as Eli halted her slow movements. “I was looking for Eli-chan,” she said, her high-pitched voice almost close to a whisper as if she was self-conscious to be around her.

“Ah! I actually hear Nozomi calling for me – ”

The second-year looked directly at Eli, her face filled with determination. The blonde bit her tongue in surprise as Kotori opened the box and pulled out a white shimmering, backless dress. Eli stared at it for a few moments before looking back to the fashion designer who hid her face from her.

“I – I think Eli-chan will look good in this,” she whispered, red blushing forming on her face.

The third-year stared wide-eyed, imagining herself fitting into that. Never in her life did she think Kotori would make something so…revealing and seductive. And never in her life did she think she would wear something like that.

“I don’t think that’ll look very good on me,” the blonde replied, smiling weakly at the second-year. She didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings, but she wasn’t about to comply with putting it on or even having it in her possession.

“I made this…special for Eli-chan,” the ash-haired sheepishly added. “It’s only meant for you.”

The third-year bit her lip to keep her from saying how much she didn’t want it. But before she could think of something to say, she heard Honoka’s voice echo through the empty halls.

“Nico-chan! I found her!”

_Oh now they’re working together._

Eli politely excused herself before running down the hallway, making her way out the entrance of the school to avoid the others chasing after her. She ran a few more feet away, stopping when she felt she was far enough and catching her breath, her heart beating rapidly from the fear of being found. Being followed by fans was one thing, being pursued by her idol-mates was another.

* * *

Practice could not have been any more unpleasant. Not only did the six girls end up arguing most of the time, they refused to be five feet from each other. Even just a small glance or a slight bump set them off as tension ran high among them; Eli actually started to fear for her life. Feeling that they were getting nowhere, Umi had stopped practice and dismissed them all to the clubroom. Nozomi followed after all of them to keep on eye on the younger ones as Eli helped the blue-haired second-year pack up.

“Sorry about practice,” Eli started, picking up the empty bottles that were left behind. “I have a feeling it’s my fault this happened today.”

“It’s not,” Umi replied, grabbing the discarded face towels. “They’re just high on adrenaline today.”

“I’m sure they’re high, but not on adrenaline,” Eli muttered under her breath.

“Sorry?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Eli noted how calm Umi was around her and she sighed out of relief that the second-year wasn’t affected by whatever was happening to the others. Six of them already confessed “their love” to her; adding another one would just drive the blonde insane. She picked up the last of the water bottles before standing up and turning around, almost squealing in fright when she found Umi had been standing behind her.

“Done?” she asked casually, unfazed by Eli’s panicked expression.

“Ye – yeah.” Umi nodded before turning towards the door, opening it up wide enough for her and Eli to walk through, their footsteps echoing through the staircase.

The walk was quiet as Eli followed behind the second-year, Umi’s blue hair waving back and forth as she strode down the hall towards the clubroom. She wanted to tell her junior what was going on, mostly because she wanted answers and Umi, being a pretty rational person, could probably come up with some possible sources.

But before she could say something, the second-year beat her to it. “Today has been very unusual. Have you noticed it too, Eli?” she asked without looking back.

“Actually, yes I have,” the third-year replied, almost happily. Maybe Umi could help her with this problem. 

The younger girl hummed in thought. “I have no idea what it is though. But it’s been bugging me this whole day. It was hard to even concentrate in class.” Eli nodded, getting ready to tell Umi what she thought was going on. “Is this what you call love?”

“Yes it  - wait, what now?”

Umi stopped walking, turning around to face Eli with a look of seriousness etched on her face. She took a few steps forward as the blonde clutched the bottles closer to her as if they were going to protect her. The blue-haired stared straight into Eli’s light blue eyes without blinking or smiling or showing much emotion.

“Eli, I don’t quite understand this feeling,” she said honestly, clutching her chest. “But I do know that what I’m feeling is towards you. I must ask you: please fall in love with me.”

Without saying another word, Umi kept walking, leaving a dumbfounded Eli to stand in the hallway alone, too dazed to move her legs. It wasn’t until she fully processed the situation through the tons of events that had happened today did she drop to her knees, the water bottles falling around her.

“What did I do?”

* * *

“Honoka, you’re standing too close to me.”

“Aw, but Eli-chan, if I go any farther, you might run away again.”

After a very stern scolding from Umi in the clubroom, she had advised everyone to go home and rest for a long practice tomorrow. Eli stayed back, waiting for everyone else to leave before her so she could at least breath from the suffocation that was her idol-mates. But as she stepped out of the clubroom, Honoka had ambushed her, begging the older girl to grab a snack before going home.

The ginger hummed happily, practically hopping beside the older girl. Eli watched her for a few minutes before asking, “Don’t you have something to do? Like…homework or something?”

“Let’s not talk about school right now; it’s so boring,” Honoka groaned. “Why don’t we do something fun? Let’s go to the amusement park, Eli-chan!”

“Maybe not today, Honoka,” the blonde replied, slightly walking sideways to keep a good distance between them without the second-year noticing. “And maybe not with me.”

The ginger pouted. “But I want to go with Eli-chan! It’ll be no fun if I go with someone else.”

“I’m sure it’ll be just as fun,” the third-year tried to convince her with a smile. “Going with Umi and Kotori would be exciting. Oh! Maybe even Rin would be willing to go with you. We both know how much she loves adventures! Maybe even Nico will go if you invite her.”

“Hmph…Umi-chan hates most of the rides I want to go on and Kotori-chan just goes with what she says. If I bring Rin-chan, Hanayo-chan will come along and I’m sure that Rin-chan won’t leave her childhood friend behind cause we both know Hanayo-chan doesn’t like going on things that are too extreme. Nico-chan will get too competitive to show off to Maki-chan, then Maki-chan will start insulting Nico-chan for no reason only for those two to start bickering – ugh, I just want to have fun!” Honoka crossed her arms, her shoulders hunched over as she started to grumble to herself, the thought of all of her friends making some sort of fuss when she just wanted to have a good time making her feel irritated.

Eli had no idea how to comment on what the second-year just said. She didn’t know whether to laugh cause it was all so true or if to be amazed at how observant Honoka really was. Umi really needed to give her childhood friend more credit.

“So, please, Eli-chan! Take me to the amusement park,” the ginger girl pleaded, her hands clasped together as her sad eyes bulged out of their sockets to make the older girl pity her.

“Eh? Uh…ha ha…Honoka – ”

“What a nice surprise to run into you two here.”

Eli and Honoka turned their head to find A-Rise’s leader standing on the sidewalk with them; her crisp white uniform making her blend into the crowd easily. She smiled at them, but her green eyes stayed focused on only one person. 

Honoka gasped before shooting up to stand tall and straight, the sudden movement scaring the blonde before her eyebrows scrunched in confusion at the younger girl’s timid posture.

“What brings you to Akihabara?” Tsubasa asked, her eyes trailing to Eli before going back to Honoka who was simply chuckling nervously beside her.

“We were just making our way through,” the third-year replied, taking a glance at Honoka before assuming that she wasn’t going to say anything.

“Oh, is that so? Well, I’ll be leaving first then; we have practice starting soon,” the A-Rise leader informed them. “Enjoy your afternoon, Ayase-san – ” She looked at Honoka straight in the eyes with a alluring smile, “ – Kousaka-san.” Tsubasa waved goodbye as she started to walk away.

Finally snapping out of whatever she was in, Honoka jumped onto Eli’s shoulder without warning. “Eli-chan! Eli-chan! You need to invite Kira-san to the amusement park!”

“What? I don’t need to do that,” the taller girl stated, trying to keep her balance as the second-year shook her. “I don’t think I’m in the right position to be asking her something like that.”

“Please, Eli-chan! Do it for me!”

As the blonde was about to protest again, she realized something as she stared at the begging girl: Honoka wasn’t all over her anymore. She took one quick glance to see Tsubasa’s small, disappearing figure before turning back around to be met by Honoka face first.

Eli stumbled back due to the lack of distance before the second-year jumped forward again, just not as close as earlier. “Eli-chan! Hurry before she leaves!”

“Fine, but just this once,” the blonde groaned, receiving a cheerful hooray from Honoka.

As the third-year began to make her way towards the retreating UTX student, easily dashing between people on the sidewalk (but not without them staring as she passed by), she slightly smiled to herself. She may have figured out a way to stop this “love” madness.

* * *

“And you think that’ll work?” Nozomi questioned, slightly tilting her head in thought.

“You should’ve seen Honoka yesterday,” Eli replied, pacing back and forth. “At one moment, she wouldn’t let me go and then the moment Kira-san showed up, it’s like I didn’t even matter anymore.”

The purple-haired girl started to hum and nod in acknowledgement. “But have you figured out how all this happened anyway?”

Eli stopped her stride to look at her best friend. She looked up at the ceiling to gather her thoughts before she started to explain what she had come up with the night before, Nozomi watching her in curiosity.

“Do you remember when this all started?” she asked; Nozomi nodded. “It had to be that stupid ‘love potion’, but it wasn’t any ordinary potion – ”

“I don’t think love potions are usually a normal thing,” the older girl commented.

Eli ignored it to continue her explanation: “ – I didn’t fall for someone; everyone else fell for me. But here’s the thing: this ‘love’ that they’ve been confessing to me; it’s not really for me! It’s just temporary directed towards me because they’re all big idiots to actually confess to the ones they do like!” Nozomi just stared at the taller girl. “Just like Honoka: we all know how much she likes Kira-san and the moment she saw her, it all came rushing back.”

“But we also know how much everybody else likes someone,” the fortune-teller pointed out. “Why haven’t they been broken from this attraction?”

“I was thinking about that too and I came up with a pretty reasonable answer,” Eli said, crossing her arms. “Unlike the rest of them, Honoka never gets to see Kira-san every day. There has to be some sort of ‘moment’ for them to realize their feelings. Seeing each other won’t cut it for them.”

Nozomi hummed in agreement. “Of course Elichika would figure it out,” she said with a smile. “That’s just like you to want to solve problems. Maybe it is a good thing you drank that potion.”

“I don’t know about it being a good thing,” the blonde said, walking towards the door of the Student Council room, stopping once she had opened the door. “But I obviously have to do something or we’ll be stuck in this predicament.” 

The purple-haired girl chuckled before also making her way to the door. She passed Eli with a wink; the taller girl quickly tried to wipe the redness off of her face as she followed the other third-year out. Her plan had to work or they’d all be in big trouble.

* * *

“Why is everyone else here?”

“I thought it was just going to us.”

“I don’t understand why you invited them.”

“Eli-chan, you tricked us, nya!” 

Nico, Umi, Kotori, Maki, Rin, and Hanayo stood in a semi circle surrounding the tall third-year as she chuckled nervously at their intense glares. She was sure they would burn a hole into each other’s heads if they could.  
  
Eli felt a little bad to have called it a date when she asked them to meet her on the weekend, but she knew it was the only way to get all of them to show up to the amusement park.

“Now, now, we’re here to have fun,” Nozomi stepped in, smiling with her hands behind her back as she swayed to the side. Eli had to wonder how she could be so calm in such a situation.

Honoka nodded rapidly, obviously too excited about spending the day with Tsubasa to even notice the scary tension surrounding them.

“Hmph…well as long as I don’t have to stand near _her_ ,” Nico said, pointing at Maki who clenched her teeth.

“Well who said I wanted to be near you?” she retaliated angrily.

The fortune-teller laughed as she put a hand on Eli’s shoulder. “So where should we start, Elichi?” she whispered. The blonde glanced at the two bickering girls before shaking her head. 

“Let’s start with the simpler one first.”

* * *

“We – we’re going in there?” Hanayo asked anxiously, pointing a shaking finger at the haunted house that a group of friends had just run out screaming of not too long ago.

Eli nodded, or tried to since she had Maki on one side and Kotori on the other, both of them holding on to her arms tightly. “I really want to go in,” she replied, trying hard for her voice not to sound shaky. It was a huge lie; if someone could destroy all haunted house attractions, it would be Eli.

“I don’t really care,” Nico informed, her hands on her hips as she glared at only Maki despite there being two girls on Eli. “Let’s just get it over with.”

“Actually, why don’t we go in pairs since there’s an even number of us?” Eli suggested, looking around. Once Tsubasa had met with them, Honoka had hastily taken her away to another part of the amusement park, leaving them to be only eight.

“I call Eli-chan, nya!” Rin called loudly.

“Hey! That’s not fair if you go with Eli,” the raven-haired argued. “I think I should go with Eli since we’re classmates and all.”

“Eli-chan should go with me so she could protect me,” Hanayo shyly said, a light brush donning her cheeks.

“I think I should go with Eli,” Umi said calmly, but seriously. “So _I_ can protect _her_ from harm if it comes.”

“Eli-chan should go with me,” Kotori chimed in, squeezing harder on the blonde’s arm. “Since we’re already linked together.”

“If that’s how you’re going to play it then Eli should go with me instead,” Maki disputed, going over the third-year to scowl at the second-year on the other side.

Eli’s eye twitched. “Why don’t we do this fairly?” she proposed as she took out eight sticks from her purse. “Each one has a matching pair so we’ll each pick one and partner up with the person without complaint.”

They all huffed before eventually nodding in agreement. Each grabbed a stick and pulled it out of the blonde’s grasp to find a color at the bottom of it. 

“All right,” Eli said. “Find your partners.”

* * *

Eli should have thought this through better. Not only was she freaking out from every little thing and trying her best to not cry out in fear from the darkness around them, but Nico was making it harder by the way she was practically breaking her hand with a death grip and shaking violently.

“Eli did you see that?” she whispered.

“N – no,” Eli replied, trying to look forward. Her and Nico were the second group to walk in with Rin and Hanayo in the front, Nozomi and Kotori behind them, and Umi and Maki not far behind.

“How – how long is this attraction?” the smaller girl asked, looking around in caution as the blonde stayed focused on the two first-years in front of them. Eli simply shrugged, too scared to say anything

Nico stayed silent, pushing closer to her classmate as the blonde tried to surpass a shriek. She started to walk a little faster and the older girl followed her pace. Eli wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, if she didn’t see light any longer, her heart might explode.

“Eli – wait,” Nico said once the blonde’s thoughts made her feet move faster as they were only a few feet away from the childhood friends. “We shouldn’t go so fast, we might run into – ”

But they were quickly interrupted when a mummified monster popped out from a dark corner and right in front of the first-years. Hanayo screamed first and Nico’s followed after. Rin simply jumped back while Eli fell on her butt, her heart beating rapidly as she shut her eyes closed.

“Kayochin! Wait!” she heard Rin call with brisk footsteps following. She felt a hand on her shoulder, only to look up to find Nozomi and Nico hovering over her.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Nozomi said, picking the horror-struck blonde from the floor and holding her hand. “Just close your eyes and keep up with us.” Eli simply nodded before being pulled forward by Nozomi and Nico, running through the hall with the other three behind. She had no idea why she picked a haunted house but from what she heard, her plan was working.

* * *

“Eli-chan, are you okay?” Hanayo asked once they had made it outside.

Eli let out another breath. “I’m fine,” she assured the first-year. “I thought I could go through it at least once.”

Hanayo smiled to cheer up the older girl before Rin jumped in; Eli braced herself for the younger girl’s hug, but stopped when she realized she had grabbed on to her childhood friend instead.

“Kayochin! Kayochin! Let’s go on the rollercoaster next!” the orange-haired said, pulling Hanayo by the arm.

“Wait, Rin-chan,” she said. “We need to see if the others want to go.”

“You guys go on ahead,” the blonde said, slightly smiling. “We’ll find another attraction to go on.” Rin cheered before pulling the brown-haired girl towards the rollercoaster ride and waving goodbye to the other six.

Nozomi stood beside the taller girl. “Three down…”

“…four more to go.”

They both turned to the four other girls who stood apart from each other, avoiding any eye contact. “So who should we go for next?” the fortune-teller asked. 

“Like I said,” the blonde replied, looking at all four girls. “We’ll go with the simpler one.”

* * *

“The log ride?” Kotori questioned at Eli’s suggestion.

“Gross, why would we want to get wet?” Maki stated, twirling a strand of her hair in indifference.

“Oh, is the princess too good for rides now? I guess that’s what happens when you have no friends to go with,” Nico mocked, a smirk covered by a hand. The redhead’s aloof expression instantly disappeared as she narrowed her eyes at the older girl.

“N – no!” she shouted back, her hands clenched into fists. “I’m just surprised the number one idol is agreeing to this considering the fact that you can’t even go out without checking yourself in the mirror every five seconds only to attract no one.”

Nico gasped as Eli sighed. “If you two don’t want to do it – ”

“We’re doing it!” they shouted simultaneously.

“So are we doing this in pairs as well?” Umi asked, realizing that there were only two seats for each row.

The blonde nodded; Nico immediately grabbed onto Eli. “I call Eli!”

“You had Eli last time,” Maki argued, towering over the smaller girl. “I think it’s only fair if Eli goes with someone else.”

“She’s right,” the third-year agreed. “I’ll go with Maki this time; you can go with Nozomi, Nico.” Nico pouted but didn’t argue back, making her way towards the chuckling purple-haired girl.

“I guess I’ll be going with Kotori then,” Umi said, slight disappointment in her voice as the ash-haired girl hummed in agreement, trying not to look so upset either.

“All right, let’s do this!” Nico said, making her way towards the ride, adrenaline still coursing in her from her earlier fight with Maki.

This wasn’t going to get any easier.

* * *

“Why are we sitting in the front?” Umi asked nervously as the ride slowly made its way through the track. She was gripping onto the handle in front of them, her teeth shaking in anticipation from the drop.

“Oh, no reason,” Eli said, trying to laugh it off to make the blue-haired girl less nervous, but backfired when Umi started to hyperventilate.

“Don’t be such a chicken,” Nico said bluntly from the back.

Nozomi pulled the smaller girl’s ear. “That wasn’t very nice, Nicocchi,” she scolded.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she quickly apologized. The fortune-teller let go with a triumphant smile, leaving Nico’s ear to be red.

Eli could hear the drop coming closer as she readied herself for it. Umi was gripping the bar even tighter than possible, Kotori closed her eyes in the anticipation, she could hear Nico’s breathing get louder as she held on to the older girl beside her, Nozomi’s hand on the handlebar.

The blonde shut her eyes closed and took a few breaths as she saw the entrance of the dreaded drop coming closer. Her eyes shot open when she felt a warm hand over hers, looking over at the quiet redhead seated next to her. Maki didn’t say anything nor did her facial expression change as her hand gripped the third-year’s tightly; the tips of Eli’s ears reddening with each passing second that she had forgotten about the ride entirely.

“Inappropriate contact!” she heard Nico yell before their log dropped at a steep angle, all six of them screaming on instinct. The drop lasted only a few seconds, but as soon as they hit the pool at the bottom, a huge wall of splashing over them, she thanked the gods that it was over.

Kotori laughed. “Umi-chan, you’re a mess.”

The blue-haired girl looked down at her soaking wet clothes before she looked over at her childhood friend. “You’re not that tidy either, Kotori.”

The log halted as an employee of the park stated that the ride had ended. All six girls stood up and walked out, standing in the sun to dry off.

“C’mon, Umi-chan,” Kotori said with a smile, grabbing onto the younger girl’s hand. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“But what about the others?” Umi asked.

“We’ll be drying off here,” Nozomi stated with a wave. “Don’t worry about us; you’re more soaked than we are.”

“Are you sure?” the second-year said, looking at the four girls.

“It’s fine,” Eli added. “Go have fun.”

And with that, Umi followed Kotori by the hand; the ash-haired girl giggling at how unusually disheveled her childhood friend looked. Eli watched them walk away before she heard Nico violently cough.

“Ugh…I swallowed dirty water,” she groaned.

“Well, maybe next time, you’ll keep your mouth shut,” the first-year replied with no sympathy.

Nico growled. “Maybe next time, you’ll keep your hands to yourself.”

“What are you? My mom?”

“I hope not; I feel bad for your mom for giving birth to a brat.”

“Take that back.”

“Not in a million years.”

The bickering continued as a few people passed by with curiosity. Eli pinched the bridge of her nose as Nozomi silently giggled. “Only two left, Elichi.”

“But this is the hard part,” the blonde sadly stated, watching with concern and annoyance at the two girls who kept going back and forth. If only these two weren’t so stubborn.

* * *

“I don’t want to get in there with her.”

“I don’t even want to be around her.”

Eli narrowed her eyes at Nico and Maki who stood a few feet away from each other, facing the other direction with their arms crossed. They were holding up the line and the blonde really didn’t want to be dealing with two 10 year olds.

“It’s just one round,” the blonde said, trying to think of a way to get them on the stupid ride. “One round on the Ferris wheel and then we can go do something else.”

“Fine,” they huffed, but not without throwing a dirty look at each other. They walked into the cart, Nico pushing Maki out of the way to get in first.

“You think they’ll be okay?” the blonde asked Nozomi as the next cart made its way down. They quickly stepped, sitting opposite of each other as the Ferris wheel slowly went up.

“I think they’ll be fine,” the purple-haired stated with a reassuring grin. “The Ferris wheel is always a good place for a date.”

Eli looked out the window as they went a little higher. “You think this ride will work?”

“I’m sure it will,” the older girl smiled.

And Eli sure hoped it would mostly because they had tried so many other rides, but none of them worked because Nico and Maki still fought for the blonde’s attention. The bickering intensified with each passing ride and attraction; it was becoming almost unbearable that she was close to giving up. And that’s when Nozomi suggested the last ride they hadn’t been on.

Eli let out a sigh.

“You must be exhausted, Elichi,” Nozomi said, grabbing her attention.

The taller girl chuckled. “It has been a pretty long day,” she replied, standing up from her seat when they had gotten high enough, the sun hitting the horizon. The sight was mesmerizing as the sky turned a dark orange and the moon made its appearance.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” the fortune-teller said, also admiring the view as she stood beside Eli. The blonde hummed in agreement. It remained quiet for a while as their cart reached the highest point, both of the girls enjoying the scene in front of them until Eli remembered the two other girls.

As if sensing her friend’s distress, Nozomi said with a smile, “They’re doing just fine. Look.”

She pointed to Nico and Maki’s cart, which was a little lower than theirs was. Eli couldn’t tell what she was looking for at first, but when she got a hold of them, she quickly turned away, her face flushed and her eyes wide.

Eli didn’t know how it happened, but she swore she saw Nico straddling Maki on her seat with their lips pressed against each other in a fierce kiss without a care in the world who saw.

Nozomi laughed at her best friend’s state. “Being trapped in small spaces can make you do the unthinkable.” The blonde inhaled deeply then exhaled, silently glad that the two girls were all over each other instead of her.

“So I guess the problem is solved,” the purple-haired added, watching as their cart made its way back down.

Eli hummed. “Thank goodness. I didn’t know if I could last any longer.”

The older girl simply laughed in response.

“Hey, Nozomi,” Eli called upon realizing something. “How come you weren’t affected by this whole thing?”

Nozomi gave the taller girl a charming smile as Eli’s heart started to beat faster. “Well, the answer is simple. It’s because I already love Elichi.”

“Oh,” was all that Eli said, still captivated by the shorter girl’s smile, but then it quickly hit her. “Wait, wh – what?!”

“You know, Elichi, you’re smart, but you’re dense.” Nozomi kissed the taller girl’s forehead, smiling when the blonde’s face turned a bright pink. “I don’t need some silly thing as a potion to love you.”

“Is – is that so?” the taller girl said, fidgeting from nervousness.

Nozomi giggled, about to say something when they heard shouting from down below.

“Ayase-san! Please be mine!”

“Eli! Accept my gift!”

“I love you, Ayase-san!”

“Please hear me out, Ayase!”

Eli and Nozomi looked down to find a crowd of girls standing not far from the ride. The blonde groaned as she listened to what some of them shouted, resting her forehead on Nozomi’s shoulder in dismay. The purple-haired girl laughed before lifting Eli’s chin to look her in the eyes.

“I guess you still have some more cupid playing to do.”

“Love is stupid.”

**Author's Note:**

> To the readers who don't know me; my name's Niko and I was a Love Live! fanfic writer until college got a bit more hectic over the years. I started out with my multi-chapter fic, "Under the Cherry Blossoms" which is all posted on FanFiction and then continued on to writing short stories and prompts on Tumblr (@nikoxnii if you're curious). I'm not as active as I was in the beginning, but I decided to post some of my work here to share with more readers who are looking for something to read.
> 
> So if you're reading this, thank you and I hope you've enjoyed!


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